Surviving the Hunt

Survival

I woke to the sound of a bird blaring the most annoying song right below my open window. I suppose it was my own fault for leaving it open and I know father would be so mad if he found out. However, the previous night was so hot it was worth the risk of being found out. Or so I told myself as i got out of bed and walked toward the horrible sound. As I reached up to close the frame i noticed a large slash in the screen. It hadn't been there the night before I was sure of it. A sudden chill came through me and I turned from my room, leaving the offending aperture for the time being. As I crept through the small house I noticed nothing out of the ordinary. My father and mother should have left for work by now and should have taken my little brother to school.  I couldn't get the thought out of my head that I wasn't alone in the cottage-like home I had grown up in. My entire body was on edge as I crept down the stairs silently, avoiding the last step that creaked if any amount of weight was applied. Choosing to jump the last step to avoid making anymore sound, I gently landed on the upper pads of my feet. My nose was bombarded with a sick rusty smell as soon as I made my way through the kitchen. The smell made all of the small hairs on my body stand to attention, alerting me of an unknown danger.

     "Mom?... Dad?" I cautiously spoke out, knowing they would hear me from anywhere in the house.

There was no answer however and my heart sank at the possibility that it was not them that my body was alerting me to. When I rounded the corner to the living room, the soft light from the TV illuminated the dark space. Although it was day the curtains were drawn and lights off, a typical precaution of my father's that he would normally remedy when the morning sun appeared. The fact that he had yet to do it, made me even more nervous. The rusted-metallic smell grew even more potent and had me desperately trying not to gag. My nose had become much more sensitive as i approached my eighteenth birthday. Something that was usual for our kind, and a large reason for the precautions my father took at night and in life.

When I made my way around the room, towards the sofa, my foot landed  with a slosh into a wet spot on the carpeted floor. When I lifted it, the substance with thicker than water and the rust smell was multiplied ten-fold. At that moment I knew something was seriously wrong and my imagination had not gotten the better of me. Although, I would have preferred if it were so.  Although the sickening smell had my mind screaming to turn around and leave, my dread of what I would find behind the large couch kept me moving forward. My head reached to look on the couch and I sighed when nothing was there. I was about to turn back and walk out of the room I noticed something large on the ground near the Television. When I looked at the form, my eyes adapted to make out what it was. I noticed the hair first, a gruesome sight I will probably never get out of my mind. The hair was attached to my father's form, his completely blank expression as he stared at me, should have let me know his fate. Not believing it, or maybe just completely in shock, I knelt down beside him.

     "Daddy" I whispered, barely getting the words out. "Please, Please,Please" I kept chanting as I touched his cold face. "Please Wake up".

Knowing this was useless but not knowing what else to do, I cried as I held his large hand in my small one. After awhile of quiet sobbing, I got to my feet, now covered in my father's blood, and walked through the rest of the house. I climbed the stairs to find my mother, not knowing what I would find. The smell was back as I entered her room. Finding her was easy, as she had not even made it out of bed. I cried more for my mother as she lay there motionless and cold. I could not go looking for my four-year-old brother. My parents were one thing, but to see his life cut so short would truly drive me mad. So I sat there at the end of the bed and cried for my lost family. Guilty for foolishly leaving my window open, for living, and for causing the death of three of the most important people in my life. I knew the danger and I did it anyway. My selfishness awarding my family with the cruelest of fates.